Americans Abroad: A Look Ahead

Having been beaten by Kilmarnock in shocking fashion last week, Carlos Bocanegra, Maurice Edu and Alejandro Bedoya enter their match against Dunfermline Athletic with one thing in mind: Winning.

Rangers is still four points clear of Celtic for first place in the Scottish Premier League, but the Blues need to bounce back from last weekend's defeat. Edu is likely to start the match against 10th-place Dunfermline, while Bocanegra could return to the lineup should he be fully recovered from the hamstring injury that forced him to miss last weekend's game. Whether Bedoya begins the game on the bench or not is less certain, but he is likely to see the field as he continues to search for his first goal in Scotland.

Michael Parkhurst and FC Nordsjaelland could also use a win, as they aim to close the four-point gap between themselves and first-place FC Copenhagen. Nordsjaelland faces third-place FC Midtjylland on Sunday, and Parkhurst will need to continue his solid play for the defense that has allowed the fewest goals in Denmark if they are to head into the long winter break with a victory.

On the opposite end of the table in Denmark, Clarence Goodson and Brondby IF will attempt to further distancing themselves from the relegation zone when they take on fellow relegation battlers Brad Rusin and HB Koge. A win could put Goodson and Brondby eight points clear of the drop zone.

OK I have been pretty supportive of the whole Kyle Beckerman as a starting NATster, but I wonder, now that J. Spector is getting time in that role, his natural position mind you (remember that he was converted to fullback), can’t we give that a try? As far as I know he’s never been given a look there. I’m not saying he’ll eclipse Jermaine Jones or anything like that but I’d be curious. He seems to be a utility player for country but has been very successful for clubs… Don’t quite get it.

Lol what’s that point of taking that shot at adub? Are you familiar with every single player that a few ppl on this website talk about?

I have never once, in my 2+ years of reading this blog (hey look, I must be new to this blog), seen somebody ‘clamor’ over Parkhurst. I’ve seen clamor over about 70 worthless players, and I’ve probably been guilty of it, but not Parkhurst.

The issue with playing Spector in central midfield for the national team is simply the depth we have at that position. We have established players like Jones, Bradley, Holden, Edu, Beckerman (I personally don’t care for him but the coaches do); then young developing players like Torres, Williams, and Johnson who all have great upside and all have played cental midfield. That with our lack of depth & experiance on the defensive line is the only reason he’s even getting called into camp any more.

Spector has shown that he can compete at a high level. He can play a few different positions and can really cross a ball from the right as good as anyone in the pool. He should be on the team, regardless of who else is around. He was stellar at the last Confederations cup; at least two assists that I can remember Dempsey knocking in.

I’d say Spector might do well as either a holding midfielder where he can show his great distribution skills or as a right midfielder where he can show his crossing. He could possibly play a “carrilero”, a player who shuttles from central midfield to right midfield in attack. Zonal Marking did a piece on that:

Has anybody managed to watch Bedoya play for Rangers? I’m rather shocked he seems to have had so little impact thus far. He was a player I had very high hopes for. He has a knack for taking up good positions in the attiacking third much like Deuce.

You shouldn’t be. Bedoya moved in mid season and from what I have read he has not been completely healthy.

US fans always seem to think that success with one team immediately and automatically translates to another team. It doesn’t. Better players than Bedoya have failed to settle at new clubs.Try to be more patient.